This invention relates to an apparatus for interfacing a speaker phone with a telephone network to permit hands-free automatic answering and communication. More particularly, this invention relates to such an apparatus for providing an automatic answering capability for the hands-free feature to interconnect, upon actuation of a selector switch, an incoming telephone call to a speaker phone. The invention also relates to such an apparatus which includes a timer for controlling the length of time of such interconnection and a bypass switch for bypassing the timer.
It is known in the art to provide a hands-free answer capability which enables a telephone subscriber to answer an incoming call without physical manipulation of the telephone handset. Examples of such systems are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,967 which discloses a telephone system which includes an automatic answering provision with a hands-free feature, wherein the incoming call activates a speaker phone, or combination loudspeaker and microphone, and wherein termination of the call is under control of a timer. Another such system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,047 which discloses such a telephone system with a multilink hands-free answer circuit while U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,791 discloses a voice actuated answering system.
In the main, systems of the prior art have been directed to the telephone communication side of the system and it is feature of this invention to provide a device which can be used on or in connection with a private telephone line or switchboard extension with a telephone speaker phone. Such total hands-free answering and conversational capability is particularly advantageous for the physically handicapped or for an outpatient during a period of convalescence to respond to an inquiry from trained hospital personnel using a system such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,344. Furthermore, hands-free conversation is advantageous for persons whose activities make handling a telephone difficult or dangerous. Such individuals include those having wet or soiled hands, such as an employee of a laundry, cooks, hairdressers, automobile mechanics or those people whose tasks require the use of both hands as a part of the work task or who have limited movement in a particular area, such as a secretary, laboratory technician or the like. Thus, it is an overall objective of this invention to provide a simplified, portable, readily connectable, automatic answering service for automatically interconnecting incoming telephone calls with a speaker phone to permit two-way communication by the recipient with the use of a minimum amount of circuitry and with a simple connection. Moreover, it is an aspect of the invention to provide such a feature as a modular package capable of being moved to various telephone jack locations throughout a particular installation, thus minimizing the capital expenditure of the user while maximizing the versatility of the unit.
Still further, it is desired to provide such a system with a minimum of component parts in a way which is safe, reliable, and low in cost while high in convenience.
These and other objectives of this invention will become apparent from a review of the written description of the invention which follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying claims and drawings.